BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:NingEventWidget-v1 VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1171189:Event:104727 DTSTAMP:20260417T072646Z SUMMARY:Legendary Aardvark Jazz Orchestra to Perform Ellington/Strayho rn Nutcracker Suite - the band’s 41st Annual Christmas Concert DESCRIPTION:Called “spellbinding” by The Boston Globe and praised for “lush sonorities and a saxophonic blend worthy of Duke’s fines t reed sections” (JazzTimes),  The Aardvark Jazz Orchestra will per form the complete Ellington/Strayhorn Nutcracker Suite December 21 at 7:30 pm, at Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St, Boston MA 02116.  The Dec ember 21 show is the band’s 41st Annual Christmas Concert, a Boston holiday tradition for more than four decades.  Admission is $20.  Fo r information call 617 776 8778 or 617 452 3205.  The show, Aardvark s 41st Annual Christmas Concert, will benefit The Pine Street Inn, t he largest provider of permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter , job training and placement, and street outreach for homeless men and women in New England.\n \nThe Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (Mark Harvey, founder and music director) gave its inaugural concert December 23, 19 73 at the Church of the Covenant in Boston as a benefit for the Chelse a Fire Fund.  Every year since then, the band has held a Christmas co ncert to support a deserving cause.   Past beneficiaries have includ ed Doctors Without Borders, American Friends Service Committee, Rosie s Place, The Poor Peoples United Fund and dozens more. \nIn this ye ar’s Christmas Concert, Aardvark will give one of the few performanc es in the country of the complete Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn arran gement (1960) of Tchaikovsky’s beloved Nutcracker Suite – an exube rant big band take on the perennial classic, in which the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy becomes the Sugar Rum Cherry, the Arabian Dance beco mes Arabesque Cookie, and the Waltz of the Flowers becomes the Dance o f the Floreadores and , and the Russian Dance is reconceptualized as T he Volga Vouty. \nNow in its 41st season, the Aardvark Jazz Orchestra is one of the longest running large jazz ensembles in the world.  Th e band has premiered more than 150 works and has released 11 CDs, incl uding 6 discs on the prestigious Leo Records label.  Luminaries who h ave joined Aardvark on stage include Jimmy Giuffre, Geri Allen, Jaki B yard, Lewis Porter, Vinny Golia, Dominique Eade, Jay Clayton, Sheila J ordan, Matt Savage and Walter Thompson.  \nFounder and music directo r Mark Harvey has performed as trumpeter in the U.S., Mexico and Europ e; has recorded with George Russell (Blue Note) and Baird Hersey (Aris ta/Novus); and performed with Gil Evans, Claudio Roditi, Howard McGhee , Sam Rivers, Kenny Dorham and others.  He has received awards and co mmissions from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and M eet-the-Composer-Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Commissioning Program, among others.  Dr. Harvey teaches jazz studies and composition at MI T, has lectured widely on religion and the arts, and is a retired Meth odist minister.\n \nAardvark is: Arni Cheatham, Peter Bloom, Phil Sca rff, Chris Rakowski, Dan Zupan/saxes and woodwinds; K.C. Dunbar, Jeann e Snodgrass/trumpets; Bob Pilkington, Jay Keyser/trombones; Jeff Marsa nskis, Bill Lowe/bass trombones, tuba; Richard Nelson/guitar; John Fun khouser/string bass; Harry Wellott/drums; Jerry Edwards and Grace Hugh es, vocalists; Mark Harvey/trumpet, music director.\nAardvark is manag ed exclusively by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, director, te lephone 617 776 8778 or email delamotte-amw@comcast.net\n\nFor more in formation visit http://neighborsforneighbors.org/events/legendary-aard vark-jazz-orchestra-to-perform-ellington-strayhorn DTSTART:20131222T003000Z DTEND:20131222T023000Z CATEGORIES:aardvark, jazz, 41st, annual, christmas, concert LOCATION:Emmanuel Church Boston WEBSITE:http://www.emmanuelboston.org/ URL:http://www.emmanuelboston.org/ CONTACT:617 776 8778 ORGANIZER;CN="Rebecca DeLamotte":http://neighborsforneighbors.org/prof ile/RebeccaDeLamotte ATTACH;FMTTYPE="image/jpeg": ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;RSVP=TRUE;CN="Rebecca DeLamotte":http://neighborsforneighbors.org/profile/RebeccaDeLamotte END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR